Siblings of children with a severe illness diagnosis experience childhood differently than their same-age peers. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe an adult's understanding of their childhood experiences when their sibling was diagnosed with a severe illness. In prior studies, researchers engaged proxies, such as parents, to…

This article, the first of a two-part series, presents 13 teaching innovations debuted at the 2016 Association for Business Communication's annual conference. The second edition of "My Favorite Assignment" will be published in the fall 2017 "Business and Professional Communication Quarterly". Assignments include international…

Intergenerational learning in the family is today often hindered due to the family changes and changes in society. We start from the supposition, that social transitions between generations are still important for transmission of heritage and knowledge. In the paper we discuss the connectedness of intergenerational learning, socialization, and…

A recent report from the U.S. Census Bureau revealed that more than five million, or 7%, of U.S. children are being raised in grandparent-headed households. In many of these homes there is no biological parent in residence, and the grandparents have taken over the role of parenting. This family structure has gained enough residence to warrant the…

Gender effects upon perceptions of grandparenting experience were examined in a study involving 115 grandfathers and 186 grandmothers who represented a wide range of incomes and educational and occupational backgrounds. Particularly studied were differences in Caucasian grandparents' enjoyment of relationships with grandchildren, beliefs about…

Research has not investigated ways in which grandparents indirectly influence grandchildren through interactions with the parents. This study was conducted to investigate factors affecting mothers' willingness to accept suggestions from their own mothers about disciplining their child. The study also examined whether mothers' disciplinary actions…

This study examined relations between grandmothers' and mothers' memories of caregiving in their childhoods; grandmothers' and mothers' current relationships with each other; and mothers' patterns of caregiving with their infants. Subjects included 49 families across three generations. Grandmothers and mothers completed a questionnaire assessing…

Relationships with grandchildren are a normative experience of middle and later adulthood, and a correlate of mental health. This study was conducted to explore associations between grandparents' views of their relationship with a grandchild and their reports of their own and their children's influence upon contact with the grandchild.…

Numerous challenges face the growing number of grandparent-headed households, including isolation from friends and social supports, and difficulties in caring for grandchildren exhibiting multiple needs. This paper describes a pilot program in which a university and a large county-wide Head Start program formed a partnership to focus on serving…

Rituals are often present at times of tension, change, and uncertainty and they perform important and diverse functions at such times. They are, however, virtually absent at one important and increasingly common event, divorce. Families do draw upon rituals to deal with in-law relationships following divorce. This report stemmed from a research…

The study reported here addressed two major issues: (1) what role does ethnicity play in the changing roles and perceptions of grandmothers subsequent to the divorce of an adult child; and (2) what is the effect of this changing role upon the grandmothers' perceived contact with their grandchildren. Subjects were 47 grandmothers from Italian…

Thirty-seven Caucasian hearing adolescents with deaf parents (HADP) were administered the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale and a social cognition interview, and were compared to a control group of 32 hearing adolescents with hearing parents. Despite wide variances in the social cognition and self-concept scores of adolescents in both groups, data did…

Grandparents play a vital role in the lives of their grandchildren. A midwest sample of 100 matched pairs of grandfathers and grandmothers and 70 individual grandmothers provided information specific to each of their 770 middle generation children and 1,254 grandchildren. The results revealed no significant correlation between emotional closeness…

Most American families consist of three or more generations. This study analyzes intergenerational relationships over time. In the past these relationships have been characterized in terms of a generation gap. In regard to this gap, this study seeks to compare and contrast perceptions of generational relations among grandparents, parents, and…

Over the past few decades, the complex nature of transitions into stepfamilies has been the focus of considerable attention. Previous scholars have established developmental tasks for remarriage, stepfamilies, and stepsibling relations. A parallel, but unique, set of developmental stages and tasks for the adjustment to stepgrandparenting occur.…